EBRD, EU Launch €70 Million Green Investment Guarantee Facility for Sub-Saharan Africa
The EBRD and the EU have extended a €70 million guarantee program to support green investments in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative targets energy projects, carbon-intensive industries, and critical minerals value chains. The move comes as the EBRD expands its presence in the region with new operations in Nigeria and Senegal. . . .
The EBRD and the EU have extended a €70 million guarantee program to support green investments in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative targets energy projects, carbon-intensive industries, and critical minerals value chains. The move comes as the EBRD expands its presence in the region with new operations in Nigeria and Senegal. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) are stepping up their cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa with a €70 million expansion of the EFSD+ High-Barrier (Hi-Bar) guarantee program to support green investments across the region. The announcement was made in a jointstatementreleased on Tuesday, July 7. According to Mark Bowman, the EBRD's Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, supporting climate investments in the energy sector and carbon-intensive industries is essential to building resilient, low-carbon economies. The expanded facility will target projects in the energy sector, carbon-intensive industries, and critical minerals value chains. The EBRD said this is its first operation in sub-Saharan Africa backed by an EU guarantee mechanism, designed to unlock financing for projects considered too risky by conventional lenders but critical to the low-carbon transition. The Hi-Bar mechanism was originally launched in March 2024 with EU guarantees of up to €168 million. Its extension to sub-Saharan Africa is intended to support climate technologies that remain underdeveloped or difficult to finance in many markets. The EBRD has not yet identified the beneficiary countries, specific projects, or the total volume of investments expected under the expanded program. The announcement comes as the EBRD strengthens its footprint in the region. On July 6, the bank announced the opening of a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, to support businesses, improve competitiveness, and foster a more resilient economy. A day later, it announced President Odile Renaud-Basso's first official visit to Senegal, where the bank plans to open an office in Dakar and sign its first private-sector investment agreements. Nigeria and Senegal both became EBRD shareholders and countries of operation in 2025. — The EBRD (@EBRD)July 7, 2026For the EBRD, the challenge now is to translate these guarantees into bankable projects in a region where high investment risk remains one of the main barriers to financing green infrastructure needed to expand electricity access and strengthen industrial resilience. Abdoullah Diop